Refreshed we departed Big Sand heading for Inverewe and Lairde. it is a pleasant ride around to Strath and then there was a humungus hill to get over the range. From there we had excellent views back down over Loch Maree that we had travelled up just two days earlier. At the bottom of the hill is Poolewe where Loch Maree empties to the sea by the small Ewe river.

We bought some supplies at the small corner shop and I managed to ring Megan by standing beside a BT telephone booth using the Fon network. From there we rode a few kms to Inverewe Gardens that had captivated Megan & I 40 years earlier and the Badger family fifteen years before that.

Inverewe Garden was created from barren land in 1862 by Osgood Mackenzie on the 850-hectare estate bought for him by his mother. Initially the challenges were to provide a wind break and soil. To solve the problems, he planted a mixture of large trees and shrubs e.g. Corsican Pine, Douglas Fir, Rhododendrons etc. Having done so his vision was to grow as many exotic plants as possible; he died in 1922, but his vision lives on. We even found a Wollombi pine there.

From there it was up and over a couple more ridges befor pulling into Lairde for the night.

Big hill. Inverewe gardens